Electrical connectors of the type in which insulated wire is inserted into a tube having prongs which penetrate the insulating material upon deformation of the tube to engage electrical conductors of the wire for simultaneous mechanical and electrical connection of the wires are well-known. There are many variations of these units. Typical of these electrical connectors are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,283,061 and 3,372,227. As may be seen in both of the aforementioned patents, these electrical connectors are made up of three basic units, to-wit, the tube, which has a plurality of prongs for passing through an insulating material and engaging a wire; a sheath, which receives the tube and is deformed with the tube and generally keeps the tube in its deformed state; and an insulating material surrounding the sheath.
Generally, the electrical connectors are made by stamping out the tubes in a proper form; and also stamping out the sheaths in their proper form. The tubes are assembled by machine by inserting each tube in a sheath. The sheath and assembled tube are placed inside a tube of insulating material, which tube of insulating material is heated to shrink the insulating material onto the sheath. The assembled connectors are then ready to receive wires for connecting the wires to each other.
The electrical connectors of this general type are usually used in substantial quantities, so that it is necessary to manufacture and assemble the connectors at a minimum of cost. One of the problems which is encountered by the manufacturers of these electrical connectors is that there is a substantial amount of difficulty in assembling the connectors in a convenient fashion and assembling them in a proper orientation.
In certain applications, it is necessary to utilize connectors of this general type in a side-by-side arrangement, whereby two pairs of wires are connected. In the commercial application of devices wherein two pairs of wires are connected, it is often desirable to keep the two pairs of wires in their juxtaposed position for the purpose of tracing circuits and finding trouble spots. To this end, it is desirable to build an electrical connector which has the capability of securing to each other two pairs of wires. In connection with the utilization of connectors for connecting two pairs of wires, it is desirable to feed and store the electrical connectors in such a manner that the connectors may be readily fed into an automatic assembling device for automatically assembling two pairs of wires.